text:
In March of 1891, a public meeting (in Bangor) is called for the purpose of forming a corporation for the "establishment, operation, and maintenance of a General Hospital for the charitable and benevolent purposes of aiding, treating and relieving the sick, injured and disabled..." The petition was signed by 70 citizens.
The following spring, five physicians -- Doctors William Mason, Walter Hunt, Everett Nealey, William Baxter and William Simmons -- publish a notice in the newspaper announcing June 7, 1892, as the opening date of Bangor General Hospital.
Excitement over the imminent opening is temporarily eclipsed by controversy among some physicians who charge that the newspaper announcement constitutes "advertising," a clear breach of the Medical Code of Ethics.
The dilemma is the subject of a paper read at the AMA annual meeting in Milwaukee, where Bangor's Dr. D. A. Robinson argues on the side of the alleged advertisers.
In June, Bangor General Hospital opens on schedule in rented quarters, occupying the gray stone Mace House, that was built in 1860s for $45,000.
In 1892, Elizabeth Spratt, a graduate of Boston City Hospital, is engaged as superintendent and charged with organizing a training school for nurses. Three students are admitted that summer for a two-year course.
The hospital's nursing care is provided by the "pupil nurses." The only experienced nurse is the superintendent.
The physicians are the faculty; they lecture on topics ranging from care of the sick room to the management of labor.
In December, Bangor General is incorporated under the laws of the state, and General Charles Hamlin agrees to serve as president of the corporation (today's chairman of the board of trustees).
One hundred citizens agree to join with the founding physicians to assume any deficit that might arise from the charitable work of the hospital.
A Visiting Board of Women is organized to inspect the premises weekly, assuring cleanliness and efficient management.
In 1893, Pricilla Blake's $1,000 gift forms the first endowment, with interest earmarked for charity care.
That year, the Woman's Hospital Aid Society is organized, led by a board of managers that meets in the YMCA building.
Taking a cue from Portland and Lewiston, the society introduces an annual fund raising event through area churches known as Hospital Sunday. In this first year, 271 women join the Aid Society.
Ellen Paine is recruited from Massachusetts General to replace superintendent Spratt.
Trustees agree to ask the Legislature for financial aid because so many patients are non-residents of Bangor.
These plans are then postponed so as not to interfere with the pending appropriation for construction of Eastern Maine Insane Asylum.
Eastern Maine Eye and Ear Infirmary headquarters are moved to Bangor General; infirmary services become available to patients at the hospital.
In its first year, the Hospital admits 150 patients, two thirds of them from beyond Bangor.
In 1894, the hospital purchases Mace house for $8,000 with subscriptions (pledges) collected by the trustees. Numerous repairs and improvements are made.
On Memorial Day the public is invited to tour the hospital. Many citizens attend, including members of the city government.
To relieve overcrowding, a tent is pitched on the lawn in summer; it shelters male patients recovering from surgery.
The Maine Legislature grants an appropriation of $5,000 in each of the next two years.
The City of Bangor funds two "free beds" (in return for an annual contribution, towns and churches could assure free care for their needy).
Donation Day in November now shares the calendar with Hospital Sunday in May, providing two sources of annual giving.
In December a registry of nurses is established: students provide private duty nursing in local homes; their compensation is a source of revenue for the hospital.
Nursing students, Eastern Maine General Hospital, ca. 1898
Item 9388 info
Eastern Maine Medical Center
In October 1895 the visiting staff votes to divide into two sections: a medical staff (Drs. Woodcock, McCann, Swett and Edmunds) and surgical staff (Drs. Simmons, Mason, Hunt, Robinson and Phillips).
A colorful look inside the hospital comes from Nellie Elden Benner, class of 1897. "I started for the Bangor General Hospital (from Bar Mills) January 10. 1895, a day so bitter cold that I suffered all the way. I was met at the station by Miss Harriet Rolfe, the friend who had urged me to come here to train. We took a hack from the station and reached the hospital about 6:30. We went in the gray building, the only one of them. In the hall, men patients sitting in a line of chairs looked over the new nurse. The men's ward was on that floor and when the patients were able to sit up some they were allowed to sit in the hall. The women's ward was on the second floor and one room on the third was for patients, the others for nurses. As we went up through to our room, my friend looked in to the various rooms and told me each patient's trouble. Many were typhoid patients, but there were many surgical cases, too. The next summer the house was so full that the men recovering from surgery were put in a big tent on the lawn in front of the hospital."
The trustees vote that "The matron, with the advice of the attending physician, shall fix the rate of board, attend to the matter of having the necessary blanks signed by the patient, make out, present and collect the bills" and also, "That no patient residing outside the city of Bangor (except emergency cases) shall be admitted to the hospital without a letter from his or her physician stating the facts in regard to his disease, and also information as to his or her financial condition. While certain regulations are necessary and it is not practicable to admit a large number of patients free, yet the trustees believe that it is better to err on the side of liberality and they have deemed the wisest policy to be a liberal one." -- Charles Hamlin
A committee of three trustees (Messrs. Ayers, Humphrey and Cassidy) is appointed to invest cash donations.
Dental surgeon Dr. Langdon S. Chilcott joins the staff.
Electric lighting replaces gas lamps throughout the hospital.
A laundry is set up in the cellar, equipped by the Women's Aid Society for $1,227.
In 1896, "The trustees recommend that the name of the institution be changed (from Bangor General to Eastern Maine General Hospital) so as to show that it is identified with the state."
The place swarms with carpenters and masons, blacksmiths and laborers, arriving in horse-drawn wagons or stepping off the trolley that connects Bangor and Old Town.
In this year they complete an addition to the gray stone house, repair the exterior, improve the grounds, add an iron arch over the driveway, and build a horse shed.
Gifts include a parcel of adjoining land and the addition of "a very commodious bathroom" on the second floor.
Surgeon for the throat and nose, Dr. Harry Butler, joins the staff.
The annual report lists dozens of contributions to the work of the hospital: furniture and bed linens; used books, magazines, and toys; barrels of apples in the fall; canned fruit and fresh flowers through summer; special cakes and gifts at Christmas.
In 1897, the hospital is granted a charter by the Legislature
"I remember the committee from the State Legislature coming to investigate the little Bangor hospital to decide if it were needed, and if worthy of a state grant of funds. ...On this fateful day, the always immaculate little building had an extra going over; nurses wore their best uniforms, patients were implored to smile, look comfortable and not require bedpans while the Legislature was here." --Mabel Hammons, class of 1889
"A new ward building has long been considered a necessity, and as soon as it became evident that nothing could be obtained from the state for a new building, efforts have been made to obtain subscriptions, that would justify beginning work. Recently something over $20,000 has been subscribed for the purpose of running a modern brick ward building, to relieve overcrowded conditions, and to provide suitable surgical rooms."
The treasurer is authorized to make temporary loans between installments of the state appropriation, with approval of the president, and not exceeding in aggregate $1,000.
Work starts on the foundation of the new building; trustees vote to take down the stone wall bordering State Street and use it in the new construction.
The Hersey family donates a parcel of land adjoining the premises on the easterly side.
In 1898, the notebook of nursing student Nellie Elden reveals life inside the gray stone hospital: The staff of nine physicians share service responsibility, each covering for six weeks at a time; they teach nursing students subjects ranging from anatomy to care of the sick room. In addition to attending lectures and preparing for exams, nursing students, under the tutelage of Ellen Paine and the physicians, provide bedside care and surgical assistance, including ether administration.
Students measure and mix prescriptions (perhaps Dr. Woodcock's morphia cough syrup or the MGH recipe for flour paste); they clean patient rooms and "leave the house" for private duty assignments.
Dr. Bertram L. Bryant joins the staff, adding expertise in "pathology and bacteriology."
Subscriptions to the building fund are augmented by an appropriation from the Legislature; the permanent endowment fund shows a "gratifying increase."
The Women's Aid Society will furnish the new wards (for $1,893), with private rooms furnished by individual donors.
In October 1899, the new ward building opens with much fanfare -- extra trolley cars are put in service to bring curious crowds out for the official ceremonies and inspection tours, so they might admire "the pleasantness of the rooms, their comfortable appointments, the spaciousness of the wards, the facilities for fresh air and sunshine and general convenience of every department"
Fourteen nurses are now enrolled in training.
Doctors, Eastern Maine General Hospital, Bangor, ca. 1900
Item 16197 info
Eastern Maine Medical Center
"Now this charity is recognized as an indispensable and permanent institution."
In 1900, the first interns are appointed: Drs. Luther S. Mason and John B. Thompson.
Flora B. Hinman donates a horse-drawn ambulance equipped with sleigh runners and the hospital purchases an electrical influence machine.
The boiler house roof is raised for new laundry machinery.
The average cost per patient week is $8.22.
In 1901, the hospital admitted 799 patients, an increase of 50 percent over 1900.
Just two years after the new building opens, crowded conditions again prevail, with many patients denied admittance.
A new and detached isolation ward is built for patients with contagious disease.
The ambulance made 188 trips in the first year of service.
The hospital built a new horse shed.
The hospital's tenth year (1902) brings to the fore the need for a children's ward (young patients are currently cared for in the adult wards).
"It must be evident to all that the presence of children in the ward with older persons is most annoying to the older occupants and far from beneficial to the little ones. ...The question which the (Hospital Aid) Society would ask of the public is this: Shall these helpless little ones be denied the opportunity of receiving such aid, as the Hospital would gladly afford should a suitable extension be arranged?"
An etherizer is purchased.
Five adjoining acres are purchased for $4,000.
In reviewing crowded conditions and the pressing need for a children's ward in 1903, trustee President Hamlin observes, "When we consider the large territory from which patients come and the inability of private charity, no matter however generous, to meet this want, it becomes a subject for liberal legislative aid. The experience of other hospitals amply proves that the running expenses of an additional ward are fully met by paying patients: therefore there should be no hesitation on the part of the State to meet this exigency."
A subscription fund is started for a children's ward.
In March 1904, typhoid fever strikes in Bangor and surrounding towns; the 54-bed hospital has 75 patients in treatment at once, more than half of them typhoid victims.
Patients sleep in ward offices and linen closets.
EMGH physicians endorse the controversial report of the Citizen's League Water Committee, which points to the drinking of river water as the source of contagion (the city piped Penobscot River water to most Bangor neighborhoods).
The prospect of "labor troubles" defers plans for the children's ward.
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. William C. Peters joins the staff.
"The young people have cheerfully given their time to writing letters for the patients."
In 1905, the hospital raised the roof over the laundry to add rooms for nurses and domestic staff.
"For several reasons the completion of arrangements for the much needed children's ward has been deferred for the present, but as time goes on the necessity for this department grows no less." -- Ellen Paine
In 1906, Charles Hamlin wrote, "During the past year this matter (of a children's ward) has had the attention of its Directors and Trustees, and some progress towards its establishment has been made. The great want has been a sufficient fund to warrant its construction. ...The foregoing (extract from an article about Children's Hospital in Boston) will show how urgent is the demand for a Children's Ward. It is strenuously urged upon the Legislature and our generous people."
Ellen Paine resigns as superintendent and opens the private Paine Hospital on Center Street (in 1947 the property is sold to the Felician Sisters and becomes St. Joseph Hospital).
Ida Washburne from Massachusetts General succeeds Ellen Paine as superintendent and matron of the training school.
In 1907 the legislature grants $15,000 toward construction of the children's ward on condition that $25,000 be raised from private sources.
"The Hospital has been filled to its utmost capacity... it shows the growing confidence which the members of the community place in the Hospital."
The surgery is fitted with steel ceilings and a new operating table is purchased. Gas ranges are introduced into the laboratory and service rooms ("convenient in bacterial work and meal preparation").
An excerpt from founding physician William C. Mason's letter of resignation from the staff: "That fact...which has impressed me most strongly is the extraordinary change in public opinion concerning (the Hospital, even though its) policy and methods of management are precisely the same as they were originally. At its beginning and for years afterwards ninety-nine one-hundredths of the citizens, the medical profession with few exceptions . . .opposed the hospital ... Many there were who pursued the institution and us so fiercely and relentlessly and almost daily ... All this is now, and for years has been, not forgotten but rarely mentioned. It belongs to the past. Today the enemies of our hospital are as few as its friends and supporters were fifteen years ago. The crisis has passed years ago and now this charity is recognized as an indispensable and permanent institution.
In 1908, with generous bequests from two prominent citizens of Bangor, Messrs. Phillips and Oliver, the state grant is now available and the long awaited building of a children's ward begins.
In recognizing the generosity of Phillips and Oliver, Charles Hamlin alludes to the changing role of hospitals. "They saw our Hospital is one of the greatest public blessings of modern times; they saw also that it applies to households where actual poverty does not exist, but where there is no possibility of giving to an invalid the nourishment, the medicines, and the skilled care and nursing which he absolutely needs in order to insure his recovery."
Nurse with patient, Eastern Maine General Hospital, ca. 1908
Item 16258 info
Eastern Maine Medical Center
In 1909 construction proceeds on the children's ward. John Wilson, secretary, wrote, "It now seems probable that in order to make the old buildings suitable for increased needs, it will be necessary to make some further quite extensive changes...but when the work is completed, the Hospital will be equipped as well, in proportion to its size, as any in New England."
A domestic building opens, adding more rooms for nurses a kitchen, bakery, refrigeration and storage rooms.
A hydro-therapeutic system is installed.
On January 1, 1910, the new children's ward opens with "suitable ceremonies attended by a large number." The first X-ray equipment is installed.
Nurses training is lengthened to three years: there are 25 nurses working and studying under the direction of the superintendent and two assistants curriculum includes cooking and Swedish massage.
The first medical student, Lester Adams, is appointed to work during the summer months (later, Dr. Adams will succeed Bertram Bryant and become the hospital's second pathologist).
General Charles Hamlin dies on May 15, 1911. As president of the corporation, he was "From the beginning, always a friend of the Hospital, ready to aid with advice, time and money. ...He was elected president at the organization of the Hospital and has been reelected annually ever since by unanimous vote" the last of the original trustees now serving the institution.
Prescott H. Vose succeeds General Hamlin.
A trained dietician joins the hospital.
Additional acreage is purchased to the west; 10 acres at $10,000.
In the wake of the Great Bangor Fire, safety measures for patients are expanded: fire extinguishers, stretchers and fire hoses are placed throughout the hospital.
Fire safety concerns extend to the patient record; a medical record office is established to centralize and safeguard patient information.
In 1912, retention of patient information is instituted.
Gifts include an operating table from the Women's Aid Society and a Victrola from "several young ladies."
"A painter has been employed, as it was thought to be more economical to have the work done by an employee of the hospital who could be on hand to do necessary repairs as needed."
The annual report notes the growing need for a separate home for nurses in training, The current plan is to move administrative offices to a new building, reserving the gray stone building for nurses ("a place conducive to rest and suitable for recreation.")
In 1913, the city Federation of Women's Clubs gives $1,000 to assist the hospital in establishing and maintaining district nursing.
Nursing students are vaccinated against typhoid.
The hospital purchases a second ambulance.
Superintendent Ida Washburn wrote, "The grounds are gradually being improved. This spring a number of maple and evergreen trees, together with some shrubbery, have been set out, and a vegetable garden has been cultivated at the easterly side of the hospital."
Women's Surgical Ward, Eastern Maine General Hospital, Bangor, ca. 1910
Item 16261 info
Eastern Maine Medical Center
Through a gift from Col. Luther Peirce of Chicago in 1914, a balcony over the solarium of the children's ward affords open-air treatment of patients.
Trustees authorize the establishment of a pathology department, with a resident pathologist.
A second X-ray machine of the latest and most efficient type is made possible by an anonymous gift.
The acre under cultivation has provided the hospital with vegetables to "quite an appreciable extent."
Two ambulances now serve the hospital; the second purchased by one Michael Kane, and kept on the west side of town "so that calls from any part of the city can be attended to with equal promptness."
Eastern Maine General Hospital's Women's Medical Ward, ca. 1911
Item 16260 info
Eastern Maine Medical Center
1915 is a banner year for nursing: graduation exercises are held for the first time with 21 graduates receiving diplomas.
Maine enacts the registration of nurses, a move first debated in the legislature a decade ago.
Public health nursing is added to the curriculum.
The state appropriation increases from $6,500 to $8,000.
"The constant work of the resident painter keeps the walls and floors in good condition and with the many minor repairs needed constantly in the upkeep of a hospital as large as this, the year has passed without any very large outlay."
By 1916, World War I threatens to cripple the hospital: "In response to official inquiry, the Military and Naval Departments have been informed that 80 beds could be devoted to Government use in case of war needs."
A leave of absence is granted to any physician or nurse who may be called for service by the government or Red Cross.
Solarium is added over the corridor connecting the surgical building with Phillips-Oliver.
A building fund is started for a nurses' residence.
By 1917, the hospital's ranks are sorely depleted. At the war's end, 11 physicians and 25 nursing graduates will have left to serve.
War brings "increased cost of almost all necessities of Hospital work."
Women's Aid continues the tradition of giving a Christmas party for patients and making annual donations of several hundred dollars.
Trustees list the most urgent needs of the hospital: a residence for nursing students, administration building, solarium in connection with the men's surgical ward, new laundry, new power house with ample coal pocket, a ward for contagious diseases.
In 1918, the influenza pandemic reaches eastern Maine and EMGH bears a heavy burden. More than 300 influenza victims are admitted.
Father P. J. Garrity offers his State Street residence as an annex; "in less than 48 hours" a hospital of considerable size was in running order and receiving patients.
"This past year has been ...one of unremitting hard work, difficult situations, anxieties as to how the work could be carried on and financial worries." --Prescott Vose
Trustee President Vose and his wife offer the use of their house at the corner of State and Essex Streets as a home for nursing students; a student residence remains the highest building priority.
A fluoroscopic unit is added to X-ray equipment for $1,500.
In 1919 "At the urgent request of government authorities, it was voted to establish an out-patient department especially for the treatment of venereal diseases."
A urology department is established with the appointment of Dr. Harrison J. Hunt.
The trustees vote to establish a social service department and ask the Women's Aid Society to investigate and make recommendations; action is deferred.
The laundry needs new machinery and the laundry building is in poor repair; the decision is made to have the work done outside.
In the 1920s, the annual report notes, "The business methods adapted to a small hospital cannot any longer meet the requirements of this large institution."
Nurse School graduates, Eastern Maine General Hospital, 1922
Item 16251 info
Eastern Maine Medical Center
The trustees report a deficit of $14,139 in 1920, slightly down from 1919 and a concern that 36 percent of the care was given entirely free.
X-ray and pathology work continue to be good sources of revenue, but not sufficient to make up the loss.
Overcrowding subsides and student nurses are able to return to their hospital quarters.
Outpatient services now include: venereal and dental clinics, orthopedic, hydrotherapeutic, X-ray and laboratory, district nursing, and the care of patients at the Good Samaritan Home.
"Under the auspices of the Women's Aid Association the patients were enabled to have frequent drives during the summer months, friends of the Hospital tendering their cars."
Katherine Boutelle is named superintendent of nurses, "it having been decided to give more assistance to the Superintendent in the management of the Training School" (until now one person had filled both positions).
The corporation adopts new bylaws.
George H. Stone, M.D., succeeds Ida Washburn as superintendent.
In 1921, under the new by-laws, the small executive committee meets monthly with Dr. Stone and holds special meetings whenever necessary, so that "the committee in authority for the operation of the Hospital will be able to keep in close touch with conditions, methods and needs."
The American College of Surgeons places EMGH on the approved list "after a rigid exam by their representative on the ground."
Reviewers urge improved record keeping.
Thaxter house is purchased as a residence for nurses.
An outbreak of typhoid fever strikes in September.
The annual report lists these departments: finance, grounds, publicity, auditing, insurance, repairs, housekeeping and engineering.
The hospital's first roentgenologist (today's radiologist), Dr. Forrest B. Ames, is appointed in 1922.
Ruth C. Ohlson, R.N. is named anesthetist.
The medical staff is "quick to avail themselves" of the discovery of insulin in the treatment of diabetes.
"The paint shop, which is now located in a room off the kitchen corridor, should be removed at the earliest possible time to a separate building. ...a carpenter shop and machine shop should also be placed in the same building as there is work enough to warrant larger quarters." --Superintendent George H. Stone, M.D.
Obstetrical delivery bed and gas-oxygen and ether apparatus are purchased for the operating room.
A metabolism outfit is installed in the lab.
The copy in this exhibit is taken from the contents of:
One Hundred Years of Caring, A Chronology, Eastern Maine Medical Center, 1892-1992
Copyright 1994, Eastern Maine Medical Center
Researched and written by Ann Trainor, Director Special Projects
This slideshow contains 23 items


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CRS: Haiti: Background to the Overthrow of President Aristide, October 22, 1993
From WikiLeaks
About this CRS report
This document was obtained by Wikileaks from the United States Congressional Research Service.
The CRS is a Congressional "think tank" with a staff of around 700. Reports are commissioned by members of Congress on topics relevant to current political events. Despite CRS costs to the tax payer of over $100M a year, its electronic archives are, as a matter of policy, not made available to the public.
Individual members of Congress will release specific CRS reports if they believe it to assist them politically, but CRS archives as a whole are firewalled from public access.
This report was obtained by Wikileaks staff from CRS computers accessible only from Congressional offices.
For other CRS information see: Congressional Research Service.
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If you have other confidential material let us know!.
For previous editions of this report, try OpenCRS.
Wikileaks release: February 2, 2009
Publisher: United States Congressional Research Service
Title: Haiti: Background to the Overthrow of President Aristide
CRS report number: 93-931
Author(s): Maureen Taft-Morales, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division
Date: October 22, 1993
- Abstract
- This report provides background information on the violent and authoritarian traditions that have characterized Haiti's political dynamics since Haiti attained independence in 1804. It examines Haiti's difficult path toward democracy after the fall of the Duvalier regime, from numerous short-lived governments until the election of Aristide. Finally, the report also surveys Aristide's rule and his subsequent overthrow by the Haitian military.
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text:
Drivers who back into parking spaces. Double-stuffed Oreos. The fiscal cliff. Coaches in the Big Ten who didn't think enough of Braxton Miller to make him their first-team all-conference selection.
There are so many things in this world that I just don't get, and Miller finishing second to Nebraska's Taylor Martinez on the coaches' All-Big Ten was one more of them. Of course, the coaches look even more foolish now that Miller has won the Silver Football award, symbolic of the Big Ten's most valuable player.
But there are some Ohio State fans that persist in the notion that Miller remains an average (at best) quarterback. Part of the downside of playing quarterback, of course, is that the hometown fans are never going to be satisfied. But I still cannot fathom how so many Buckeye Nation denizens believe Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein is much more deserving of the Heisman Trophy than Miller.
First of all, Klein is not going to win the trophy. Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel will be announced as the winner tomorrow night with Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o a fairly distant second. Still, Klein earned an invitation to New York City and the official presentation ceremonies over Miller and USC receiver Marqise Lee.
Lee was no doubt eliminated for two reasons: He played for an underachieving team that lost five times this season, and he is only a sophomore. That means he can take his nation-best 112 receptions for 1,680 yards and 14 TDs and get ready to pad those stats against Georgia Tech (No. 82 nationally in pass efficiency defense) in the Sun Bowl.
There were likely two reasons why Miller was eliminated as well. The first is that he is a sophomore, and the second was that he played for a team ineligible for postseason play. As a result, Miller got only cursory recognition during the season, and as the race for the national championship heated up, he was hardly mentioned at all.
It didn't help Miller's candidacy that his stats fell off during the final two games of the season. During the 21-14 overtime victory at Wisconsin, Miller was clearly frustrated as the Badgers keyed on him to the point that 23 carries netted only 48 rushing yards. His 10-for-18 performance for 97 yards and no touchdowns in the passing department was hardly Heisman-worthy, either.
The following week against Michigan, Miller was much better in the passing game, completing 14 of 18 attempts for 189 yards and a touchdown. But he struggled again on the ground, picking up only 57 yards on 20 carries.
Of course, those are the raw numbers. Dig a little deeper and you will find that Miller's most effective month of the season was November when he failed to throw a single interception and rallied his team to a pair of overtime victories. Miller was also money with the game on the line. During the fourth quarter, he averaged 11.7 yards per attempt, threw for five touchdowns against only one interception, and had a passer rating above 205.
Then there is the totality of Miller's body of work for 2012. Does anyone truly believe Ohio State would have completed a perfect 12-0 season without Miller at the controls? Even if all you look at are raw numbers, he should not be penalized because opposing defenses began to sell out just to stop him. The simple fact is that others on the team – i.e. Carlos Hyde, Philly Brown – began to step up their games because of him.
Does Miller remain largely an unfinished product as a college quarterback? There is virtually no disputing that. But 2012 marked the first season he has received any kind of high-level coaching. If he can make the same kind of progress over the next 12 months that he made over the past 12, there will be no way to prevent him from being a Heisman favorite in 2013.
That said, Miller's 2012 numbers could be difficult to replicate. He broke Ohio State's 17-year-old single-season record for total offense with 3,310 yards. He became the first OSU quarterback in program history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season, finishing with 1,271. Along the way, he totaled six games of 100 yards or more to give him a school-record-for-quarterbacks nine in his career. For some perspective on that last stat, All-American Bob Ferguson and Heisman Trophy winner Howard "Hopalong" Cassady had only nine 100-yard games during their Ohio State careers.
Miller also threw for 2,039 yards and 15 touchdowns, completing 148 of 254 attempts (58.3 percent). Those are solid-if-unspectacular numbers – although very similar to those put up by Klein. The K-State senior completed 180 of 272 attempts (66.2) percent for 2,490 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also pitched seven interceptions to six for Miller. That computes to one pick for every 38.9 attempts for Klein, and one every 42.3 attempts for Miller.
Add in the fact that Klein (3,380) and Miller (3,310) were virtually tied in total offense, and their teams combined for a 23-1 record, and I fail to see how Klein was so much better that he deserved an invitation to New York while Miller did not.
** On Dec. 8, 1914, representatives from Oklahoma and Rice attended a meeting in Houston and joined as charter members of what became the Southwest Athletic Conference.
** On Dec. 8, 1959, the first NAIA championship contest was staged between St. Joseph (Ind.) and Montana State. The game ended in a 0-0 tie, and both schools were awarded NAIA championship trophies
** On Dec. 9, 1876, Yale finished an undefeated season with a 2-0 victory over Columbia in a game held in Hoboken, N.J. The Bulldogs finished their season with a perfect 3-0 record, their third undefeated season in the first five years of football at the university.
** On Dec. 9, 1914, College Football Hall of Fame icon Glenn "Pop" Warner coached his final game at Carlisle (Pa.) Indian School. The Indians traveled to Birmingham and came home with a 20-3 victory over Alabama. Warner, who also coached at Georgia, Cornell, Pittsburgh, Stanford and Temple, compiled a record of 312-104-32 during a 44-year coaching career.
** On Dec. 9, 1935, University of Chicago halfback John Jacob "Jay" Berwanger won the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy awarded to the outstanding player east of the Mississippi River. Berwanger was a runaway winner over Army halfback Charles "Monk" Meyer, Notre Dame halfback William Shakespeare and Princeton halfback W. Pepper Constable. One year after Berwanger won the award, it was renamed the Heisman Memorial Trophy in honor of legendary college coach John Heisman, who died in October 1936.
** On Dec. 9, 1961, Baylor scored a 24-9 upset victory over No. 10 Utah State in the long-forgotten Gotham Bowl. The game was played in New York City at the old Polo Grounds during a driving snowstorm and featured eight turnovers by the Aggies. Baylor was led by halfback Ronnie Bull, who rushed for 61 yards and a touchdown, and quarterback Don Trull, who threw for one score and ran for another. Utah State was led by future College and Pro Football Hall of Fame lineman Merlin Olsen. The Gotham Bowl was only played twice. Following the 1962 game in Yankee Stadium, a 36-34 win by Nebraska over Miami (Fla.) played in 14-degree weather, the contest faded into the history books.
** On Dec. 11, 1971, first and only East-West Black All-Star Game was held in Houston. The contest, which featured all-star teams comprised only of African-American players, featured a 19-10 victory for the East over the West before only 5,156 fans.
** On Dec. 11, 1977, College Football Hall of Fame coach Eddie Robinson led his Grambling State team to a 35-32 victory over Temple in the Tokyo Bowl. The Tigers' victory marked one of the first wins by a historically black college over a Division I-A opponent.
** On Dec. 12, 1925, Hawaii topped Colorado State, 41-0, in Manoa, Hawaii, to push the Warriors' winning streak to 18 games. It also snapped a 10-game winning streak for the Rams. Hawaii was coached at the time by Otto "Proc" Klum, the winningest coach in school history, who earned a reputation for running up the score on opponents. Twice during the 1926 season, the Warriors scored 101-0 victories.
** On Dec. 12, 1981, Eastern Michigan celebrated its first (and still only) postseason appearance with a 30-27 win over San Jose State in the California Bowl.
** On Dec. 14, 1995, overtime was used for the first time ever in a Division I-A game. Toledo took a 40-37 win in OT over Nevada in the Las Vegas Bowl.
** Wisconsin is only the second unranked team to make a BCS bowl (Connecticut was the first in 2010) and the Badgers are the first five-loss team to enter a BCS game. It would seem prudent for the Bowl Championship Series to have some sort of mechanism in place to prevent teams with more than two losses from playing in the marquee bowls, but since the BCS is going away after next season anyway …
** And then there is the curious case of Louisiana Tech, a 9-3 team featuring the nation's No. 1 ranked scoring offense. The Bulldogs aren't going to any bowl because athletic director Bruce Van De Velde turned down an invitation from the Independence Bowl for a better offer that never came. Tech long snapper Josh Cuthbert promptly qualified himself for Tweet of the year with this gem: "Way to go athletic director #yousuck."
** It's a whirlwind kind of season for Rod Carey. The former offensive lineman at Indiana began the year as a junior member of Dave Doeren's coaching staff at Northern Illinois. After the Huskies' season-opening loss to Iowa, Carey was promoted to offensive coordinator when predecessor Mike Dunbar was diagnosed with cancer. Then the day after NIU defeated Kent State in the MAC Championship Game, Carey was promoted to head coach after Doeren left to take the job at North Carolina State. That means Carey's first assignment as head coach will be in the Orange Bowl against Florida State.
** Baylor finished the regular season with six consecutive victories to finish at 7-5 and grab a spot in the Holiday Bowl against UCLA. The Bears have now strung together three straight seasons of seven wins or more, and that's the first time that has happened in Waco since 1949-51.
** USA Today college football writer Paul Myerberg had an interesting piece in the Dec. 4 issue regarding success tied to pass efficiency. The top 10 college teams in pass efficiency combined for a 91-31 record this season while the bottom 10 were 29-91. Of course, as with any statistical comparison, there are outliers. For example, Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin finished atop the Big Ten in pass efficiency but ranked only a respective 44th, 52nd and 56th nationally. In terms of pass efficiency rating, the highest ranked team with a losing record was Marshall (5-7) at No. 27. The lowest ranked team with a winning record was Bowling Green (8-4) at No. 101.
** Pittsburgh began its season with a 31-17 loss to FCS member Youngstown State and sat at 2-4 in mid-October. But first-year head coach Paul Chryst righted the ship, the Panthers won four of their last six games, and got themselves bowl-eligible. That's the good news. The bad news? Pitt will be playing in the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., for the third year in a row. The Panthers took a 27-10 win over Kentucky two years ago and dropped a 28-6 decision to SMU last year.
** Speaking of the Panthers, they will be making their third straight visit to Birmingham under a third different head coach. Two years ago, head coach Dave Wannstedt was forced out and defensive coordinator Phil Bennett coached the team to its win over Kentucky. Last year, defensive coordinator Keith Patterson was interim head coach during the bowl game after Todd Graham left to take over at Arizona State.
** Ten schools have filled coaching vacancies so far with 11 more still searching. The newly hired nine are Gus Malzahn at Auburn, Bret Bielema at Arkansas, Steve Addazio at Boston College, Sonny Dykes at Cal, Paul Petrino at Idaho, Mark Stoops at Kentucky, Doeren at N.C. State, Carey at Northern Illinois, Darrell Hazell at Purdue and Butch Jones at Tennessee. Still in the market for new head coaches: Arkansas State, Cincinnati, Colorado, Florida International, Kent State, Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, Temple, UTEP, South Florida, Wisconsin and Western Michigan.
** Thoughts on the Bielema-to-Arkansas story have run the gamut from shock to derision. But for all of those who believe the SEC has stolen one of the Big Ten's best coaches, chew on these numbers. Bielema leaves Wisconsin with a 39-19 record in the conference, a .672 winning percentage. Take a little closer scrutiny of that record and you will find a 25-2 mark vs. Minnesota, Purdue, Illinois, Indiana and Northwestern, and a 14-17 ledger vs. Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Iowa and Nebraska. Bielema was 2-0 in conference title games, but only 2-4 in bowl games, including 0-2 in two Rose Bowl appearances.
** One final thought on the Wisconsin coaching situation. No one should have been surprised when athletic director Barry Alvarez decided to coach the Badgers in the Rose Bowl. Likewise, no one should be surprised if Alvarez decides after the Rose Bowl that he himself is the best candidate to be Bielema's successor.
We finished the regular season in a blaze of glory, going 8-2 straight up and 6-3-1 against the spread. That pushed the season totals to 105-25 SU picks and 68-58-4 ATS.
There is only one game tomorrow and it's an annual classic.
Army vs. Navy: The pomp and circumstance of the Cadets and Midshipmen marching into the stadium far exceeds the entertainment value of the game itself. Nevertheless, it is a national showcase for a pretty good Navy team and a fairly awful Army squad. Both teams run the ball almost exclusively – Army has completed only 47 passes all season – which leads to the fact that the Cadets are the No. 1 running team in the nation and the Middies are No. 6. Unfortunately for Army, it also ranks 118th of 120 FBS teams in rush defense. That means RBs Gee Gee Greene and Noah Copeland as well as freshman QB Keenan Reynolds will get plenty of carries for Navy, and probably plenty of touchdowns … Navy 31, Army 24. (3 p.m. ET, CBS)
That will do it for the 2012 season. Here's wishing everyone a Merry Christmas as well as a safe and prosperous new year.


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9215.3 - Bicycle Usage, Queensland, Oct 2003
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 29/04/2004
|Page tools: Print Page Print All
On your bike! Queenslanders cycle for fun: ABS
Recreation and social purposes were the most popular reasons why over three-quarters of a million Queenslanders 15 years and over rode a bicycle in the 12 months to October 2003, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released today. Exercise and training were other popular reasons for cycling.
More than one in three Queensland cyclists (37%) rode at least once a week and 8% rode daily - but 40% cycled less than once a month. Almost half of all cyclists rode on both weekdays and weekends. Half of all Queensland homes contained a working bicycle.
There were more male cyclists (60%) than females (40%). More than twice as many males than females cycled to and from work.
An estimated 85% of cyclists aged 15 years and over also had a motor vehicle licence.
Cyclists without a licence rode more regularly than cyclists with a licence. Almost two-thirds (63%) of cyclists without a licence rode daily or at least once a week, compared to one-third of cyclists with a licence.
Further details are in Bicycle Usage, Queensland, October 2003 (cat. no. 9215.3).
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The pros and cons of nucs and package bees for first hive.
The pros and cons of nucs and package bees for first hive.
Regards, Barry
packaged bees are mostly not related to each other and definately not related to the queen, and they have no brood for a boost in population.
nuc has bees related to eachother and to the queen and has brood to give them a good boost in population and usually has a frame of stores to boot.
nucs work better more often than packages.
Live chat room most evenings at:
https://www.rumbletalk.com/client/[email protected]_hmJ
Packages won't have any sealed brood for at least 10 days allowing a great opportunity to impact mite population
The first issue is that with a package you have your choice of equipment (mediums, small cell comb, top bar hives etc.) where with deep nucs you're limited to what you get.
All other things (such as choice of equipment) aside, I think you get a couple of week head start with a package, but then you often get the nuc two weeks later anyway.
Michael Bush bushfarms.com/bees.htm "Everything works if you let it." ThePracticalBeekeeper.com 42y 40h 39yTF
When I started beekeeping with packages I enjoyed watching and learning with bees as they started out the colony. Seeing the progression from nothing, and having new white wax and easily removable frames ( no propolis ) helped me being when I was a newbie. I think I would have missed some of this starting out with an established colony.
Depending on the part of the country you are in and when you get your bees, you might have to feed a great deal to get a package to the point of self sufficiency, especially if they are started on bare foundation. For someone who is not familiar or not yet too comfortable with bees, a nuc, which is a bit closer to autopilot, can be a good choice.
In addition, the queen has been proven in a nuc; she is laying, not something always to be taken for granted in a package. The beginner can see all stages of bee development and see what "normal" actually means.
Timing of the first major honey flow can also be a determinant. If the flow is early a nuc might better take advantage of it but if the flow is later in the season a package may do just fine.
For those with experience, installing on drawn comb, the cheaper price of the package may well be the determining factor.
We normally recommend nucs for beginners.
I can see your point Sheri. Myself, I was eager to learn and I started out with two packages and went into them once a week the entire first season. Mainly so I could learn. They made plenty of stores and both made it through the winter. I have bought established hives and caught swarms and made splits since then.
Packages can show up dead or half dead. I think about 5% abscond. You have more drift. You have to take the package back for deposit.
>I think you get a couple of week head start with a package
>Really? Why? I would think it would be the other way around.
Brain fart. Sorry.
I think you get a couple of week head start with a nuc over a package. But you often get the nuc two weeks after the package.
Michael Bush bushfarms.com/bees.htm "Everything works if you let it." ThePracticalBeekeeper.com 42y 40h 39yTF
There is nuc and nuc and then there is Overwintered nuc.
Not all nucs are created equal.
I'll take one of your overwintered nucs over a 4 pound package- all day every day. Esp when they are local Northeast bees, slim chance of AHB.
If it isn't broken, don't try to fix it. If you build it, they will fill it.
My overwintered nucs usually make my strongest colonies.
Michael Bush bushfarms.com/bees.htm "Everything works if you let it." ThePracticalBeekeeper.com 42y 40h 39yTF
Can a Nuc be pushed hard enough to draw out 2 deeps and a med of honey in their first year?
I'm purchasing a Nuc this spring. I'm dropping off a deep -4 frames. he will feed 6 qrt. of syrup while the queen cell is hatching. Then 6 qrt more while she breeds and proves herself. I should get the hive back by the first week in April if not a little before.
This from a new beekeep so take it for a grain of salt. My nuc this last year I got in late may early june. I fed and fed and until they filled up two deeps but they would never go into the medium after that. I think it depends on your flow. We are in an extreme drought here and flow this year was really bad at least that is what the beekeeps are saying around here.
I guess it would matter how long before the main flow that new queen began laying, and how long the flow lasts.
I'd always go with a nuc.
A regular type nuc usually has 4 frames of bees (of which usually has 2 of the frames has brood) and a laying queen. If the brood is in all stages and have a lot of emerging brood, it'll fill a single to good strength less then 5 weeks.
With a package, 2 pounds of bees doesn't even cover a full 3 frames and for the time it takes to intro the queen and for the first brood to hatch, not to mention the stress and suseptability of disease, it's almost twice as long to get a single fill to strength.
Will Gruenwald Chilliwack BC
Theres pros and cons with both, we recommend newbies start with packages to watch the growth. Here the packages seem to catch the nucs, not sure why.
We also call the dumping of 4 frames together and a queen a ( nucage )
Not even close to a wintered nuc in production.
I've purchased nucs and found painted queens 2 years old, from a big seller.
Also a few of the frames were and can be pretty scary, fazed them out right a way, into the wax melter.
I just ordered a few packages, to stuff into my kenya and long hives. here comes spring
I'm not tense, Just terribly, terribly alert!


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Personally, having tried just about every pellet known in North America---I hate pellets. They're conning people into believing that they're really just convenient economical complete nutrition. The exception to this being the TOPS 'pellets' as they're really just like grain mash but dried and pressed---this is where I get my convenience factor but even then Jacko does not get dry pellets in a bowl. Most pellets are cheap grains/fillers with artificial vitamins. Why would low-grade animal-feed corn/wheat/soy dust and various isolates and proteins extracted in a lab plus gods know what else coated with synthetic vitamins be good as a complete diet?
For the record--- Jacko has tried and sampled over the years:
Tropican lifetime & high preformance granules (HAGEN)
I'm from Quebec so in HARI's backyard. These are my preferred best of the worst--and if you can't find TOPS or you're pressed for time and money--these offer reasonable nutrition for the price and one of the better fat ratios and ingredient lists out there.
Nutribird P15 tropical flavour (Versele-Laga)
UNGH do NOT get me started on this stuff---its rock hard and when wet makes a foul chemical-smelling sludge. Jacko wasn't crazy about this stuff and I ended up throwing out most of it, it was attempt to get Harrison High Potency-like nutrient profiles without the $$ I also don't like that it takes a ton of digging to find out the actual ingredients in the food not just an ambigious however many % cereal grains and seeds it says on the bag/website.
Pretty Bird African Special (Pretty Pets)
Not too bad on the macronutrient profile---but the ingredients are cheap (chock full of soy, corn and not much else) plus chock full of colorants and synthetics. But they try to mark it up because its supposed to be 'special african grey food' .
Calcium Max African Grey (Zoo-Max)
Another local company here in Quebec, this pellet is better than the Pretty Bird as it does include more ingredient sources--but again we're still dealing with colourants and synthetics. Pellets are bit hard too---but the company makes awesome locally-produced toys and gyms so I'mma give them a break even though they don't list the macronutrient ratios online.
Zupreem Fruitblend (Zupreem)
This food line (including the natural coloured ones) I find highly overrated. The fruitblend makes a terrible smelling sludge in water, turns your birds poop all sorts of frightening colours. Plus the fat content is terrible--Jacko had alot of flaking beak, feet and general itchiness. The food is primarily soy/corn/wheat based with all sorts of additives.
Roudybush Rice (Roudybush)
Not bad considering its intended purpose--not sure it has enough nutrition for long-term health if used alone despite what it claims. The pellets are pretty inoffensive, crunch easily and despite the synthetics I think does well. I wish however that they'd warn you better that the bird's poop turns and stays lime green on it. Seeing as its a specialized food its expensive though.
Lafaeber Parrot pellets (Lafaeber)
Huge mark-up I think----vet's office food for sure. Ingredients aren't amazing and Jacko refused flat out to eat these. I had a small sample bag and neither she and or Sully the tiel would eat them.
Kaytee Exact Rainbow Complete Food for Conures & Parrots (Kaytee)
This...I'm ashamed to admit I even bought. But small town pet store and running out of pellets is what it is. Needless to say, horrible ingredients, synthetics off the roof and Jacko wouldn't even eat it. Nevermind Kaytee's questionable activities ie bird mills.
Harrisons High Potency Coarse/Adult Lifetime Coarse/Pepper Adult Lifetime (Harrisons Pet Foods)
I used to be a believer in the cult of Harrisons lol, used to. I figured it was ok to spend $40 dollars on pellets for just my TAG (even though they're majority corn/peanuts/sunflower) because they were organic and the first whole-food ingredient pellets I found. Plus, the vet recommended them at first. Only to have her develop fatty blood, fast growing nails and bea and eat them like mad on the high-potency, then have her flaky, itchy and disinterested on the lifetime. I no longer support or recommend Harrisons personally, as they are scams in terms of promising awesome health and organics yet they use ingredients most known to be allergenic etc and not all of their ingredients are organic thus their advice to use 90% percent pellets and only organic produce is ridiculous and just a ploy for money seeing as their own product is NOT 100% organic. Save your money and feed your fids better people, seriously.
Totally Organics Pellets (Totally Organics)
This is my pellet of choice now, for those of us (like me) who do not have the know-how to implement a completely non-pellet diet as it is basically a grain and herb mix dried and pressed.
In its raw state out of the bag its pretty nutrient-sparse, not because its actually poor but because its not hard-pressed and crumbles easily. So the bird ends up having to eat a lot more to gain the same benefit---HOWEVER---this is easily remedied by making into birdie bread. After that it works well. It does smell funky and very 'earthy' but most birds give in and try it---especially baked into bread. As my vet told me, it is basically a natural multivitamin, and will be a complete diet if fed in conjunction with a variety of veggies etc. It's also much cheaper than most other organic foods and does not contain anything artificial. Some complain it lacks D3 but with it made into birdie bread (egg yolk contains d3) and UV lighting all is good.
Golden'obles (Goldenfeast)
I'd actually forgotten I've tried this one. Minus the soy and sugar I love that all the ingredients are whole and that there is even probiotics! It smells sorta sweet and Jacko (and my ex-tiel) ate it without complaint. However, given what I now know about soy I chose not to feed it, as well with all the excess sugars (honey, molasses etc) I found the birds more irritable and that the tiel's yeast issues flared up so I stopped feeding it. YMMV though. I just don't want soy or wheat etc in my bird's food---especially not all that excess sugar.
To those who quote no time, its very simple to take an hour or two--make your birdie bread and mash on the weekends, portion and freeze them. It takes me all of a minute to warm Jacko's birdie pellet-bread and serve it. It does not take long to educate yourself on the nutritional properties of food and the needs of parrots. To boot--it is not expensive---Fresh food costs me 20 dollars a month, and buying TOPS in bulk means it cost about $5/month.
A bag of pellets alone can cost you that.


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I am curious about a something if the merger is approved.
1) Many rumors abound that Sirius may possibly have envisioned this merger long before the announcement. Because of this fact, it is rumored that Sirius has installed chipsets as far back as 2003 that could be updated via a firmware upgrade to recieve XM satellite signal. Multiple FCC filings by Michael Hartleib (including one that quotes our very own Tyler Savery) suggest this is a very real possibility.
Assuming this is true, Sirius Satellite had an approximate subscriber number of around 500k as of the first quarter of 2004. Assuming that there were double the number of radios available, figure there were around 1 million satellite radios with the old chipset that are not interopperable. Even if you run it all the way to the end of 2004, Sirius had an estimated 1.1 million subscribers.
If it turns out that this is the case, would it not turn out to be much cheaper for Sirius Satellite Radio to offer a "buy out" of everyone that has an old chipset? How much could it cost to replace an old radio with a new radio? Assuming that it was factory installed, I could not see it costing the company more than $100 bucks per radio and probably less, including labor for the dealership installing it. With the estimated 1.1 million subscribers, that would run the company about 100 million dollars, give or take, and that assumes that they have not already replaced that radio with a newer radio.
Would it not be more cost efficient to replace these radios than to maintain seperate systems for the next 5-10 years? I could see the company spending much more than 100 mil by keeping the services seperate for a million customers, and I could see much more than that in synergies if they were to buy them out and combine the systems.
Wouldn't this make much more sense or am I over thinking things? This is of course assuming that Sirius built in that ability and that it could even be done. Let me know what you think.
Brian R.


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Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Health Education Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee, introduced legislation Tuesday that would make it easier for charities and cooperatives to continue to offer pensions to their employees.
The bipartisan bill, the Cooperative and Small Employer Charity Pension Flexibility Act of 2013 (S. 1302), co-sponsored by Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash.; Lisa Murkowski, R-Ark.; and Al Franken, D-Minn., would ensure that charitable and cooperative associations are not swept into the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) funding rules, "which would require them to divert funds from critical services and jeopardize their ability to provide pension benefits to their workers," Harkin said.
Harkin introduced the bill at a hearing titled Pooled Retirement Plans: Closing the Retirement Plan Coverage Gap for Small Businesses. He explained that many charities and co-ops provide their employees with retirement benefits through defined benefit multiple-employer pension plans (CSEC plans), which allow small, community-focused employers to pool their resources to achieve economies of scale otherwise only available to large employers.
Pooled retirement plans are also known as multi-employer plans.
Harkin noted that although CSEC plans have operated successfully for decades, they are poised to become subject to PPA, "which would threaten the ability of many nonprofit employers to continue to offer pension benefits."
Since enactment of PPA in 2006, "it has become increasingly apparent that the PPA funding rules remain inappropriate for the unique structure of CSEC plan," Harkin said.
When Congress passed PPA, which fundamentally changed the way most pension plans are funded in order to protect participants and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., Harkin continued, "it recognized that the new rules were not necessarily appropriate for rural cooperative multiple employer defined benefit plans because, by design, the plans pose little risk that they will be unable to pay benefits."
Consequently, Congress granted the plans a temporary exemption from PPA, which was later broadened to include eligible charities by the Pension Relief Act of 2010. "Without congressional action, the temporary exemption will expire and CSEC plans will be forced to comply with PPA funding rules," he said. "That will result in many small, nonprofit employers being unable to continue to provide pension benefits to middle-class families."
Harkin also noted that he plans to release likely this summer legislation that he has been working on to provide universal access to pension plans via Universal, Secure and Adaptable (USA) Retirement Funds.
Harkin said his plan is two-pronged: along with offering the USA funds, it would raise Social Security benefits by $65 per month.
But Harkin said he's also "committed to making the system work better for employers that are already offering good pension benefits to their employees."
The nation faces a retirement income deficit—the difference between what workers have saved for retirement and what they should have saved—which is estimated to be at least $6.6 trillion, Harkin said.
Plus, half of Americans have less than $10,000 in savings, he said. "Most people simply are not saving enough for retirement," he said, "and the dream of a secure retirement is growing more and more remote for middle-class families."
Check out Median Retirement Balance Is $3,000 for All Working-Age Households on AdvisorOne.


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American Idol's Thursday debut held steady with last year's numbers.
After posting its lowest regular-season premiere ever, Idol pulled in 16.2 million viewers and a 5.6 in the adults 18-to-49 demographic, down just a tenth from last year's Night 2 bow. The episode slipped just 7 percent from Wednesday's debut.
ABC was second for the night, led by Grey's Anatomy (8.6 million, 2.9) and Scandal (7.9 million, 2.6), which were both down.
Winter TV Preview: Must-see new showsOn NBC, Parks and Recreation (3.9 million, 1.9) grew four-tenths in its new 8:30 p.m. timeslot, matching its highest rating since November 2011. It's also Parks' biggest audience since last January and NBC's best rating in the slot since March 2012. The rest of NBC's comedies were down, with 1600 Penn (3.04 million, 1.2) slipping 25 percent.
8 p.m.
CBS: The Big Bang Theory (R) 11.9 million (3.3); Two and a Half Men (R) 9.1 million (2.4)ABC: Last Resort 5 million (1.0)Fox: American Idol 16.2 million (5.6) [8-10 p.m.]NBC: 30 Rock 3.5 million (1.3); Parks and Recreation 3.9 million (1.9)CW: The Vampire Diaries 2.9 million (1.4) 9 p.m.
CBS: Person of Interest (R) 9.3 million (1.6)
ABC: Grey's Anatomy 8.6 million (2.9)NBC: The Office 4.1 million (2.1); 1600 Penn 3.04 million (1.2)10 p.m.
CBS: Elementary (R) 7.05 million (1.4)ABC: Scandal 7.9 million (2.6)NBC: Rock Center with Brian Williams 4.3 million (1.2)


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Bridget Brandon of ValueMyHorse Equine Appraisals specializes in educating attorneys in case specific horse terminology, developing valuation appraisals, testifying in court, finding critical evidence, analyzing crucial facts, and creating relevant witness questions. She provides the legal community with a wide range of analysis, education and support for equine-related proceedings throughout the United States. ValueMyHorse services clients from any locality and any state needing expertise in the area of Sporthorses, Performance Horses, pleasure horses and breeding. Bridget has testimony experience and is qualified as an expert. USPAP certified,
ValueMyHorse understands the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) compliance issues. They also know what it takes to comply with the IRS Federal Code of Regulations with respect to being "qualified" appraisers developing a "qualified" appraisal in accordance with AQB (Appraisal Qualifications Board). Whether to support business valuation and profit motive claims for dissolution of marriage, charitable donations of horses, estate valuation, partnership disputes, or IRS related issues. ValueMyHorse is available with regard to IRS Hobby Loss Issues, the Relevant Market, Type of Horse, Horse Show Issues, Breeding Issues, Boarding, Care, Custody and Control, Highest and Best Use, and Fungibility.
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Since the late 1970s, Linda Pastan has been writing "quiet" verse on marriage, family, parenting, and grief. While she was a senior at Radcliffe College, she won Mademoiselle's poetry prize (in case you didn't know, Sylvia Plath was the runner-up). Despite that success, for the next decade, Pastan put poetry aside to raise her family, until her husband urged her to return to writing. In those 10 years, Pastan focused on pregnancy, childbirth, raising a family, keeping a house and cultivating a relationship, all necessary but difficult things. Rewarding yes, but clearly also requiring attention, diligence, work and constancy.
Recently, I've been drawn back again to Pastan's poetry that centers the quotidian against which she navigates marriage, motherhood, and daily sorrows and joys. The simplicity, seeming ease and directness of her work appeals to me as I try, and fail, to exert control over my busy life. I'm a wife, mother of two, magazine editor and a poet, identities that overlap and merge and sometimes explode. Some days, frankly, I don't feel happy. And yet, shouldn't I, since I'm fortunate to be able to work hard and well through my productive days? And shouldn't I feel joy at the desire and ability I have to write? It should be effortless to be happy, right? I've been blessed, I know. So why don't I feel an inner, unwavering joy?
Pastan, tries to absolve herself of that very thing in her poem, "The Obligation to Be Happy." I love this vulnerability from a woman who seems able to handle it all, and do so much (when you consider the amount of awards she has won, written more than 10 books, and served as Maryland's Poet Laureate):
It is more onerous
than the rites of beauty
or housework, harder than love.
But you expect it of me casually,
the way you expect the sun
to come up, not in spite of rain
or clouds but because of them.
What relief, I thought. It's not easy to be happy (it's harder than love, Pastan says!), so I don't have to be concerned with forcing it. If I feel happy and free of worry and anxiety, that's just fine. Or, maybe not. In church recently, the young priest preached that we shouldn't worry about the future or even tomorrow, just today - how we order our lives and souls today. It was the Sunday before Lent, with the Gospel about banishing worry from your life, according to Matthew 6:25-27: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"
At first, I thought, what does this guy know about worry? He's 29. He's not married. He looks like a modern hippie with that beard. He doesn't have kids. His job is saying Mass, hearing confession, and counseling parishioners. He has a place to live. He has food to eat. He doesn't have to worry about college tuition or retirement accounts. He has time to go for walks and watch the birds. OK, full stop. Then I realized this young priest had to have an amazing amount of courage to give up marriage, a family, a job out in the world - and leave his family and don vestments. He had incredible courage to follow his vocation - an inner one that told him, "Come to me. Don't worry. Just trust."
Our young priest is practicing what he preaches. So what can I, what can we in the pews, learn from him? When we pray (or write), we move aside and let our "self" speak, whether to God or to the page. When we pray, we trust that we're being heard; we learn patience because we put out a request for what we need, and then we wait. We learn gratitude when we pray, since we consider about how we have been blessed or helped; when we write, we're grateful to be able to create art, breathed through with light. When we pray, we're grateful for the breath that moves in and out of our body. Simone Weil said, "Absolute attention is prayer." Praying and writing are similar practices; they're both gates into inner calm and a way of being present, grateful, patient and worry-free. Easy? No. But there's our door in. Just open it. In his powerful poem "Trying to Pray," James Wright captures the essence of prayer - and of writing, I would argue - both are acts of letting go, of accepting things as they are and of thinking of what could be - hope in the darkness:
This time, I have left my body behind me, crying
In its dark thorns.
There are good things in this world.
It is dusk.
It is the good darkness
Of women's hands that touch loaves.
The spirit of a tree begins to move.
I touch leaves.
I close my eyes and think of water.
And to return to Pastan, I've decided to cite her poem "Traveling Light" in its entirety in closing:
I'm only leaving you
for a handful of days,
but it feels as though
I'll be gone forever--
the way the door closes
behind me with such solidity,
the way my suitcase
carries everything
I'd need for an eternity
of traveling light.
I've left my hotel number
on your desk, instructions
about the dog
and heating dinner. But
like the weather front
they warn is on its way
with its switchblades
of wind and ice,
our lives have minds
of their own.
This journey that we're on, it's tenuous and unpredictable. In the quotidian, in our spousal relationships, there's an element of uncertainty and surprise. Which way will our minds and lives lead us? Will we decide to stay the course we're on? With prayer, the one listening is God. The one we're lead to is God, a constant. With life and with writing, we're being lead on a path of pilgrimage. We know not where. But if we start with prayer, we are being led to a place of peace. Let's start there.
–Originally published in the Ruminate Magazine blog
Do you have something say about poetry? An essay on being a poet, tips for poets, or poetry you love? TrishHopkinson.com is now accepting pitches for guest blog posts.
Contact me here if you are interested!
Nicole Rollender is the author of the poetry collection, Louder Than Everything You Love (ELJ Editions, 2015), and the poetry chapbooks Arrangement of Desire (Pudding House Publications), Absence of Stars (dancing girl press & studio), Ghost Tongue (Porkbelly Press), and Bone of My Bone, a winning manuscript in Blood Pudding Press's 2015 Chapbook Contest. Her work has appeared in The Adroit Journal, Alaska Quarterly Review, Best New Poets, The Journal, Memorious, Radar Poetry, PANK, Salt Hill Journal, Thrush Poetry Journal, Word Riot and West Branch, among others. She's the recipient of a 2017 poetry fellowship from the New Jersey Council on the Arts, and poetry prizes from CALYX Journal, Princemere Journal and Ruminate Magazine. She earned her MFA in poetry at the Pennsylvania State University. She's the editor-in-chief of Wearables and executive director of branded content & professional development at the Advertising Specialty Institute. In 2016, she was named one of FOLIO's Top Women in Media. Visit her online at www.nicolerollender.com.
Categories: Guest Blog Posts


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Outages bring out the best in us
by Barry
Around our house, it's normally noisy as the Christmas season approaches. This year was different. Thanks to a major ice storm that moved through the state in early December, my family joined thousands of others who were without power.
Instead of the cheerful strains of "Joy to the World" and "Jingle Bell Rock," silence reigned. Outside, however, was a different story. Nearly every neighborhood resounded with the sounds of chain saws and diesel engines from repair trucks.
Ice storms tend to blanket entire systems with outages. But they also seem to bring out the best in people.
It never ceases to amaze me how much rural electric members — even those suffering through an extended outage — appreciate their electric cooperative. It comes through in the outpouring of support that every rural electric system experiences when the chips are down.
I thought it might be good to relate some of these stories in this month's column.
Outside Jefferson City, Solid Rock Baptist Church, served by Three Rivers Electric Cooperative, opened its doors to anyone without power. The church served as a warm place to stay until everyone in the area had power.
Also at Three Rivers, member Gene Kiral Sr. saw how trees had fallen across the sign at the co-op's Brazito office. Knowing the co-op could not spare employees to cut the limbs, he did it for them and hauled away the debris for good measure.
In northwest Missouri, an Atchison-Holt member offered to buy breakfast for an entire line crew because he was so appreciative of the crew's work. That says a lot, because these guys can eat!
As quick as the lights came back on, the thank-you notes began pouring in. A Boone Electric member, Tyler Therrien, wrote, "Much is made of thanking our troops and as a former Marine, I know how important that is. But it occurred to me as I spent 20 minutes chiseling ice off my old pickup that what you do, out in a freezing rain storm, is no party either!"
Co-ops post these notes where the crews gather, and it's a real morale builder for a weary lineman.
A group of Grundy Electric linemen, along with crews from Farmers' Electric who were helping out, received a standing ovation when they stopped at a restaurant in Princeton for lunch.
A Platte Clay Electric member, Maxine Thompson, called to tell everyone "an old lady is thinking and praying for you and is very appreciative of everything the co-op did during this outage and job well done."
The Kearney Trinity Lutheran Church baked cookies for the Platte-Clay Electric crews and all their helpers from other systems, including ones in Nebraska. They put a sticker on the cookie plate wrappers, quoting Luke 1:37: "For with God, nothing shall be impossible."
At New-Mac Electric, members used their trucks and tractors to pull the co-op's trucks out of the mud. At United Electric, members brought in pots of hot soup to feed the employees who were working around the clock.
These stories and hundreds of similar ones restore our faith in humanity and keep our crews ready for the next storm, which we hope is a long time coming.
Those of us who were without power now have a greater appreciation for electricity. We witnessed the hard work of the employees, not just from the local system but also from those who volunteered to lend a hand. We especially appreciate the crews from other states who helped out.
The next time you see linemen out working, I hope you will take the time to give them a big thank you. And thanks for your kindness, patience and understanding.
Hart is executive vice president of the Association
of Missouri Electric Cooperatives.
Barry Hart
Barry Hart
Barry Hart


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Check out the SharePoint - Students site for CSB/SJU students. There you will find:
37 South College AvenueSt. Joseph, Minnesota 56374320-363-5011
CSB Campus Map
PO Box 20002850 Abbey PlazaCollegeville, Minnesota 56321320-363-2011
SJU Campus Map
Copyright © 2020 - All Rights Reserved Email the CSB/SJU Web CoordinatorNondiscrimination/Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity800-544-1489 - Office of Admission


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We are thrilled to host Meet & Greet events with authors frequently in our bookstore. We also offer our space to larger groups for lectures or workshops after hours with prearrangement. If you would like us to consider a certain occasion, please e-mail an overview of the proposed event to Cynthia at firstname.lastname@example.com with several potential dates.
Some of the other functions we have hosted include art demonstrations, musical concerts, lunch time discussion groups, collaborative community events and private groups or parties.
- This event has passed.


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Even back in Luther's day, student life shaped Heidelberg, Germany's oldest university town. Here, in the rooms of the university, the great Reformer presented his beliefs to the Augustinian Order in 1518, shortly after nailing his theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg.
Members of the university were also present. While many of the older professors criticised Luther's ideas, the students and younger members of the university were enthralled by the fiery Luther. Many of them later became friends and supporters, who spread the Lutheran ideas, mainly in southern Germany. Due to their influence, the Reformation was introduced relatively early in this region.
Today a large memorial plaque embedded in the ground on University Square, where the Augustinian monastery once stood, commemorates these important first steps of the Reformation.
Overlooking the city and the river Neckar, Heidelberg Castle is the epitome of German Romanticism and one of Europe's most famous landmarks. You can enjoy particularly beautiful views of the castle ruins and the picturesque old quarter on the two-kilometre Philosophers' Walk. In contrast to historical Heidelberg, the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival offers a look at what's new in the world of cinema.
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At The Plate – The RedHawks scored in one inning in this one, unfortunately that was enough to defeat Iowa. The RedHawks scored four times in the third inning, and the Cubs could never get even despite scoring one run in the fourth, fifth, and sixth inning. Brian Bogusevic had another great day going 1-for-2 with two walks, his thirteenth double of the season, and two runs scored. Brent Lillibridge was the only other offense in this one as he was 1-for-4 with his third home run of the season, an RBI, and a run scored.
On The Mound – Walks were contagious in this one, and it started with Guillermo Moscoso who lost his command and was slapped with his second loss of the season. Moscoso worked five innings giving up four runs, three earned, on four hits while walking four (see?), and striking out six. Hisanori Takahashi also struggled with command but worked out of trouble, he worked two scoreless innings while walking three (see?), and striking out one. Brian Schlitter, who has been outstanding for the Tennessee Smokies was promoted to Iowa earlier in the day, and had a tremendous debut. Schlitter worked two scoreless innings giving up two hits while striking out three.
At The Plate – The Cougars had to battle back in this one as they trailed 4-3 in the eight, and battle they did, scoring five times in the bottom of the eight en route to an 8-4 victory. The only bad news is that Albert Almora had to leave today's game after it looked like he suffered a leg injury, hopefully it's nothing serious. Pin-Chieh Chen was solid again from the leadoff spot going 1-for-4 with a walk, two RBI's, and a run scored. Dan Vogelbach had a huge day going 3-for-5 with his sixth home run of the season, two RBI's, and two runs scored. Jeimer Candelario resembles Garrett Anderson up there right now, we should start calling him doctor doubles, he was 1-for-4 with his seventeenth double of the season, a walk, an RBI, and a run scored.
On The Mound – Michael Heesch was solid in this one, but settled for a no decision. Heesch worked six innings giving up three runs on seven hits while walking one and striking out four. Steve Perakslis was outstanding in relief and was rewarded with his first win of the season. Perakslis worked three innings giving up one run, unearned, on one hit while walking one and striking out three.
At The Plate – The Smokies had the bats working in this one as they pounded out eleven hits and scored eight times en route to an 8-6 victory. Matt Szczur was solid at the top of the order going 1-for-3 with two walks, an RBI, and a run scored. Ronald Torreyes was 2-for-5 with his first home run of the season, three RBI's, and a run scored. Ty Wright had a solid game going 2-for-4 with his seventh double of the season, and two runs scored. Chad Noble was 2-for-3 with a walk, his first double of the season, and a run scored.
On The Mound – Matt Loosen got the start and had one of his better outings but did not factor in the decision. Loosen worked six innings giving up four runs on eight hits while walking one and striking out two. Hunter Cervenka made his first appearance with Tennessee after being promoted from Daytona, and it didn't go well, he worked one inning giving up two runs on two hits while walking one. Tony Zych was solid out of the pen and was rewarded with his first win of the season; he worked two scoreless innings giving up one hit while striking out one.


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Greg Beaver points out an obscure problem he came across when working with the new _HALT_COMPILER token in PHP 5:
A quick note about an obscure problem peculiar to PHP files that make use of PHP 5's new __HALT_COMPILER(); token. Prior to PHP 5.2.2, if you included two files that contained the __HALT_COMPILER(); token, you would get a notice that __COMPILER_HALT_OFFSET__ was already defined.
This posed a problem for him as he needed it to throw this error for the phar library format. His solution? To patch his installation (PHP5, the PHP6 patch is here) to make the problem a non-issue.


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A Chat with Josh Rouse
Music Home / Entertainment Channel / Bullz-Eye Home
Josh Rouse, in addition to being a singer/songwriter who's rightfully received no end of plaudits for his albums on Rykodisc (not to mention his latest release, Subtitulo, on Nettwerk), is a man who knows how merciless and unforgiving an international calling card can be. His attempts to chat with Bullz-Eye from Valencia, Spain, were thwarted at one point, but, by God, he persisted and called us back, giving us the opportunity to needle him about his new disc, his profile in Europe, his "borrowing" of a riff from Johnny Marr, and what it's like to work with Brad Jones and Kurt Wagner.
Josh Rouse: Hey, is this Will…?
Bullz-Eye: It is!
JR: Hey, this is Josh. Rouse.
BE: Hey, how's it going?
JR: Good. Good.
BE: So how much press have you been doing today?
JR: Ah, I had a couple more interviews before this one.
BE: Oh, good. I wanted to make sure I wasn't dragging you down too much.
JR: No, no. (in a musing tone) Will Harris. Did you ever get called down to the principal's office when you were younger?
BE: Uh…only once, when I was in third grade, when I was part of a group that accidentally broke a window in a classroom door.
JR: Oh, God, and they called you to the principal's office?
BE: Yeah, me and all the other guys involved.
JR: Aw, man.
BE: Were you called down a lot…?
JR: Huh? Oh, no, there was this guy named Will Harris who was always getting called down to the principal's office. I thought maybe we went to the same school. You never know.
BE: I think I'm innocent in this particular case.
JR: (laughs)
BE: Well, as it stands at the moment, I've only been able to hear a few tracks from your new album, but what I've heard, I've loved…and I've got everything you've put out in the past, so…
JR: Oh. Well, thanks!
BE: Absolutely. The first thing I noticed, though, is that you're on Nettwerk now. (All of Rouse's previous albums were released on Rykodisc or one of their subsidiaries.)
JR: Well, it's my own label, actually. They're marketing and distributing the record.
BE: What happened with Rykodisc?
JR: My contract actually ended. I finished the contract.
BE: And you just decided to do your own thing…?
JR: Yeah, yeah. It's better that way. I was kind of doing that, anyway, with Rykodisc. They were doing the same thing that Nettwerk's doing…except that they got all the money from the records. (pauses) Hey, Will…? Let me call you back in two seconds.
BE: Yeah, sure.
JR: Okay, thanks.
After decidedly more than two seconds have passed…
JR: Hey, you there…?
BE: Yep!
JR: Sorry about that. My calling card was running out, and I had to switch cards.
BE: No big deal. Um…what was I getting ready to ask you?
JR: You were asking about starting my own label.
BE: Yes!
JR: Yeah, I talked to some other labels, and we talked to a few, but, y'know, I kinda wanted to do it myself and just find someone to do what Nettwerk is doing now. And they seem to be doing a good job, so, yeah, I'm happy about it.
BE: I heard you on NPR the other morning (with Scott Simon on "Weekend Edition.")
JR: Oh, yeah! That's cool. Man, that thing really reaches a lot of people!
BE: Yeah, it does.
JR: NPR is a powerful machine.
BE: Was that the first time you'd done an interview with them?
JR: No, I did one…about four years ago. (thinks about it) Yeah, I did one about four years ago, and, yeah, a lot of people heard that one as well. I did the same program, actually. (sneezes repeatedly)
BE: Bless you!
JR: Thanks. It's spring here. (affects an accent) Spring in Valencia!
BE: And that answers that question: where are you today?
JR: Yep. (sneezes)
BE: You're a man who's not afraid to embrace the sounds of the artists who've influenced you. Did that ever scare Rykodisc to death when you were with them? I mean, 1972 was so blatantly '70s in style…
JR: Mmm-hmm. No, I don't think anyone's ever really said anything to me about it. I mean…
At this point, Rouse fades out. Completely. I give him several seconds grace period, in case he's collecting his thoughts, but it becomes quickly evident that he's completely off the line…and I have no way to get him back.
After the better part of five minutes, the phone rings again. There's a click, and it immediately goes to a dial tone. Moments later, the phone rings again.
BE: Hello?
JR: (Exuberantly) Will Harris! Josh Rouse here.
BE: (Laughs) You know, I was talking to thin air for a few seconds back there…
JR: Man, this phone card seems to be freaking out here. It happens with international calls sometimes.
BE: No problem.
JR: Will! I'm in Istanbul! Send me some money!
BE: I might need to…at least for a new calling card!
JR: Yeah.
BE: I talked to someone the other day who was having "the perfect storm of phone catastrophes," as he called it, so I'm sympathetic.
JR: Yeah, sorry about that.
BE: But, yeah, you said that no one ever really commented on the tribute to the '70s, as it were…?
JR: Yeah, I mean, they have, but no one's ever said, "Don't do that," or anything like that. I mean, y'know, I think everyone just kind of dug the songs and got what I was doing.
BE: With (Rouse's 2004 album) Nashville, I have to ask: regarding the song, "Winter in the Hamptons," has Johnny Marr called and asked for his guitar riff back? (Writer's note: if you haven't heard it…and you really should have…the song sounds undeniably like something from Marr's bag of tricks circa The Queen Is Dead.)
JR: Ha, ha…! No, no, he hasn't.
BE: I know you grew up as a big Smiths fan, as well as a Cure fan.
JR: Yeah, yeah, I liked that stuff. Recording that record, my guitar player actually started playing a guitar riff like that. We knew it sounded like the Smiths, but we decided, who gives a shit, right? It's all cool.
BE: And that's what I mean: you do a really good job of incorporating your influences without sounding derivative.
JR: Yeah, except that that song was completely derivative! (Laughs) We just thought, hey, it sounds good. I don't sing, actually, a lot like Morrissey. If I sang like Morrissey, then that might've been more of a problem.
BE: But I know that you have covered a Smiths song in the past. Somewhere around here, I've still got the EP that it's on.
JR: Oh, really?
BE: Wasn't it "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want"?
JR: Yeah. That was years ago.
BE: Probably around the first album, wasn't it?
JR: Yeah, it was.
BE: Do you still throw out covers once in awhile?
JR: Um…I haven't in a long time. I don't know why. I guess 'cause it's too much work. I've got too many records now. As far as the concerts go, it's kind of, like, if I throw a cover in there, then I have to leave one of my own songs out, and people go on my website and say... (affects grumbly voice) …"He didn't play nothing off of that!" But what are you gonna do? You can't make everyone happy.
BE: I know you've worked with producer and engineer Brad Jones. I loved his solo album (Gilt-Flake) that he put out some years ago.
JR: Oh, yeah! Cool!
BE: Was it really cool working with him?
JR: Oh, yeah, this is my third record working with him. It's kind of like our little trilogy. We always have a great time. We spend as much time bullshitting about bottled water and, um, well, anything, really. He knows a lot about a lot of things, and it's always fun to do a record with him because you learn new things, new information about different cultures, what different people are doing. And, musically, he's really incredible. He plays a lot of things, and he's really fast. He's great at arranging songs.
BE: I get the idea that he's a musician's musician and producer.
JR: Yeah, exactly. He's kind of my little George Martin, I guess! He helps out with all the orchestration and arrangement, and he knows all the theory and is really quick…and I'm no good at all of that. I just kinda come in with the songs and go, "Duhhhhhh!" Nah, I have ideas and I have directions in which I kinda want to go and things like that. But we do, we work really well together.
BE: Does it ever feel weird blending musical styles the way you do? Or do you just have a feel for how a song should be?
JR: Uh, I think I have a feel for how it should be, and, every once in awhile, we'll go, "What would be kind of different on here? Let's put pedal steel on here!" And we'll all giggle and put it on there, then go, "Okay, yeah!" It's kind of fun to play with it a little bit.
BE: And I guess you're starting your US tour in April?
JR: Yeah, on April 1st.
BE: No foolin'…?
JR: Say that again…? Oh, April 1st. No, no fooling.
BE: And you're playing the Birchmere, I believe.
JR: Yeah, in DC. Is that where you are?
BE: Well, it's about three and a half hours away, so it's as close as you're getting to me, anyway.
JR: Oh, are you in Pennsylvania or something?
BE: No, I'm in Chesapeake, Virginia. It's right near Virginia Beach.
JR: Ohhhhhh! Well, yeah, I've been to Virginia Beach before.
BE: Oh, really?
JR: Yeah, a good friend of mine used to live there. I went there, tried body-boarding and all that stuff. Yeah, it was nice. I like Virginia Beach.
BE: It's not the burgeoning concert scene we'd like it to be, but what can you do?
JR: And that guy, Pharrell, the big producer, comes from there, right?
BE: Yeah, Pharrell Williams.
JR: N.E.R.D., right.
BE: Yes, many a N.E.R.D. article has appeared in the local paper here. Same with Missy Elliott.
JR: Is she from there, too?
BE: From Portsmouth. Right next door. Um…so, what are you doing overseas at the moment? Touring? Or advance press…?
JR: Not really. I'm getting ready to kind of a press run here – I'll just fly around to a couple of different countries and do some interviews, and then I'm actually going to see my family in Nebraska before I go on tour, so I'll probably head there – but, no, I'm just kinda hangin' on in Spain, doing what everyone else does: buying groceries, washing dishes, watching movies, watching TV, on the internet for a couple of hours every day. It's nice. It's a nice place here. I like it.
BE: I know the Spaniards are very big on their pop music.
JR: Yeah! Yeah, they love the music here. It's cool to see. It's just neat because a lot of people come to concerts here. And a lot of people are coming through here in Valencia where I live, and they always come to these little places, so it's kind of neat.
BE: I know you kind of moved around the country a lot when you were growing up. Were you part of a military family, or did you just, uh, move a lot?
JR: Well, my dad was in the Army, but I lived with my mom and stepfather until I was 14, and he was in construction, too, so that's how I kind of ended up in the circus of moving.
BE: But you moved to Nashville, which is when you started recording?
JR: I actually ended up there…I finished high school just outside of Nashville, and I went to college for a couple of years about an hour outside of Nashville. My father was stationed at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, which was about an hour from Nashville, so I just ended up moving to Nashville.
BE: How did you end up hooking up with Kurt Wagner (from Lambchop, with whom Rouse recorded an EP, Chester, in 1999)? Did you just cross paths on the music scene?
JR: Yeah, we met at a concert…at a Pernice Brothers concert. And I had seen Lambchop play in concert in town. I liked them. I was upset because when I lived in Nashville, that was an idea I had. I wanted to put together this big ensemble of horns and be really quiet like that. But when I saw him, I said, well, I guess I'd better do something else! My first record had come out, and I guess Kurt found out who I was through the paper, and he was in Europe a lot and I was getting a lot of press in Europe. And I was at a show, and he just sort of came up and said, "Hi," and we started talking and became friends and hung out. And he lived just a couple of blocks away from me; I didn't know that. So that's how that all kinda came about.
BE: Well, if you're gonna meet someplace, a Pernice Brothers show is a good place to do it.
JR: Yeah, exactly.
BE: It seems like your sound has kind of eased into a more lush sound than the more Americana sound of your earlier material. Is that just a gradual evolution, with you getting more comfortable in your own skin…?
JR: Um, I don't know. It just kind of happened. Maybe it was something to do with working with Brad. He's into that whole orchestrated pop thing, and I like it, too. There are a couple of those songs on the new album, but I kind of made a conscious effort to keep it as stripped down as much as possible.
BE: What's Bedroom Classics? I saw it on eMusic.
JR: Well, that's the name of my record label, actually. I started it years ago. It was just the name of my little home studio. But I put out something called Bedroom Classics, Volume 1, and it was just some stuff I'd done in the bedroom. I just released, like, a thousand or so, and I sold them on the road, and people ate it up. They really liked it. So I just thought I'd do it again. I released it through iTunes, eMusic, and it's available through my website. It was the first release from my label, just to kind of get it going. To raise a little capital.
BE: So what's your overseas presence like? I know the album's being released in Europe at approximately the same time it's being released here, but…
JR: Yeah.
BE: I know Mojo Magazine loves you.
JR: Actually, they don't anymore! They have this thing with Uncut Magazine, and they're really big fans of mine at Uncut. And they have this rivalry, so if Uncut really gets behind an album, then Mojo says, "Well, it's just okay." But when I first started out, yeah, Mojo liked me. But when Uncut really got ahold of it, it really pissed Mojo off. It's funny. It's infantile, really. But here in Europe, it's really healthy. I play over here all the time, in Spain, Portugal, England, Ireland…and especially in Scandinavia. I do really well over there. So, yeah, I know Nashville, saleswise, did better here in Europe than it did in the States, and I think 1972 was a big record over here as well. So, yeah, I've got a good fanbase going! Concerts sell out, and that's kind of nice.
BE: Do you think it's easier to break over there because it's not so niche-oriented as it is here in the States?
JR: No, actually, I think it's more niche-oriented here.
BE: Really?
JR: Yeah, there's a big singer-songwriter thing here. I don't know. I wouldn't say it's easier to break, but I think there's just a healthier…I think people buy more records here. There are more magazines here for records, I think there's a lot of exposure for it. I think people like American songwriters. There are people here who like what I do...and what Wilco does. They kind of lump you in with other people, but I think there's a healthy scene for that. I don't know why or how. It's always been kind of a mystery to me. But I keep playing the concerts, and people keep buying the records and seem to like them. But I can't really explain why. I guess there's not so much competition. And you've got all these little countries; it's not hard to cover them. Like, in Ireland, you tour four or five little cities, and they're all pretty close, so word of mouth can really do you well there. Enough that you can play concerts for a couple of hundred people, or even a couple of thousand people. It's really not that many people. But in the States, your shows are just so spread out.
BE: Do you ever find it hard to blend the happy melodies with the melancholy lyrics?
JR: Nope. That's always just been what I've done. It just comes naturally, I guess.
BE: Have you picked up any new albums lately that you'd like to rave about?
JR: I bought Richard Hawley's latest record.
BE: Oh, right, I haven't heard it yet, but I've heard, well, no end of raves!
JR: Yeah, check it out. It's called Coles Corner. And the song "Coles Corner" is just incredible. Let's see, what else have I been listening to lately? I've been getting into some heavy stuff. This band called Pearls and Grass…? They're kind of like Black Sabbath. (sighs) I get tired of the kind of thing that I do. There are so many people doing it now. You go to an indie record stop, and there's all this folk-pop that's kind of light. I like the Jon Brion soundtracks a lot. Those are really cool.
BE: Yes, there are many big Jon Brion fans at Bullz-Eye. My dream is to catch him at Largo someday, but I haven't managed to accomplish that yet.
JR: Yeah, me, neither. I've played there a couple of times, but I always kind of miss being there on a Friday night.
BE: Wellllllll, I think that's just about it.
JR: Yeah, cool, I have to call my next person.
BE: I appreciate you persisting and getting back on the line…
JR: Yeah, sorry about that.
BE: No, not a problem. I hope to get up to the Birchmere, but, if not, it's still been great talking to you.
JR: Yeah, you, too, thanks!


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